Living Dolls- Starting

Zoe
Everything is spinning out of control and then suddenly it just... stops.
I can feel clod metal under my fingertips and the distinct smell of some chemical or another.
My eyes snap open and suddenly the whole world comes into focus.
I’m lying on my back in cage with my arms strapped securely to my sides.
I glance around trying to figure out where exactly I am.
The room outside the cage is stark white in comparison to the grey metal of the bars surrounding me.
People pile around the room, a few dressed in lab coats and others dressed in scrubs.
That’s when my vision focuses on the other cages and makes me realise I’m not the only one.
Altogether there are eight of us all lying in around about the same position.
Some people are actually awake and I see a few of them talking to a girl- not that much older than us in a white coat.
Krista- that is the name that comes to mind when I look at her and after listening to the others converse with her for a moment I realise that that is actually her name.
Then I notice that the other dolls are being told there own names and suddenly I wonder if I have one and If so what it is.
I want to know who I am.
I focus on the names she tells the others, wanting to remember who exactly they are.
Raven and Aster.
Then she turns to another girl in a cage somewhere close by and I hear the name Jane.
Soon she’ll be around this side of the room.
I try to wait patiently not fidgeting to much with the metal straps that keep me in place but I really want to know who I am.
I see a boy in a cage close to mine with an expression that makes me think that he wants to know who he is about as much as I do.

Lilliana
I wake up, and feel coldness. I try to sit up, but feel held back. A girl walks over to me, and unbinds me. I sit up, and rub my eyes.
"Yes, you are Raven, and you are Aster." she says.
"And what's your name?" I ask her.
"Me? I'm Krista." she says.
"Can I have a name too?" says a guy.
"Of course, you're Peter." Krista says.
"And, uh, how about me. What's mine?" I ask.
"Lilliana..." Lilliana.... strange name. Lilly sounds nice... Lil sounds nice... But Lilliana? The boy, Peter, looks at me. His blue eyes search me. For some reason, I feel a small fluttering feeling in my stomach. I turn away, turning rosy. As I try to stand up, I feel my legs momentarily wobble. Peter jumps up, and walks to me. He walks over to me, and grabs my hand to steady me. I look up at him, and smile.
"Thanks, Peter." I say.
"You're welcome. Oh, and call me Pal." he says. He waits until he's sure I'm steady, then lets me walk alone. My legs aren't as stiff now, but I have to get used to it. I smile a sweet smile at Pal, and turn around, swishing my hair. I don't know why I smiled at him, and I have never felt this feeling before. What is it? I feel.... well---- Different----.

Max

Cold. When I wake, that's the first thing I process. Metal bars encompass my vision and something sterile fills the air. A cage? Am I some kind of animal? I glance down at myself, finding that I'm one hundred percent human, even if I'm only eighty percent sure.

People are talking about names. Names? I lean against the bars and listen, though none seem to connect with me.

"W-what about me?" I ask, my voice smaller than I'd like it to be.

Peter


Peter, she said to me. My name is Peter. Running my hands along the cold metal of the cage, I run it again and again through my head. Peter. I like it! I have my own name, one that no one else in this room has.

I watch Krista for a minute. How is she walking? I focus on her feet, how she carries them, how her body shifts slightly to stay in balance. Slowly, carefully, I ease myself off the table and walk around it. It comes easily to me: I remember Krista's movements and copy them perfectly, revelling in the feeling of the cool tile beneath my feet.

A girl, Lilliana, catches my gaze. I look back at her, wondering why she is staring at me. Does she want to be my friend? Does she not like my name? Then she tries to stand up like I am and practically falls against the side of the cage. I reach through the bars and help her up as much as I can, which isn't a lot.

"Try again," I encourage. "It's fun when you get the hang of it."
Liliana nods and holds onto my hand until she gets her own balance. She lets go, taking a few wobbly steps.

"Thanks, Peter," she says. I freeze a moment. Peter is my name and it's special. What if everyone calls me Peter and it gets ordinary? There is no way I'm going to let that happen. I'll use an unimportant nickname instead.

"You're welcome, and call me Pal." I use the first name that comes to mind. For some reason, it fits.

"Okay." Lilliana smiles and continues walking around. I turn to look at the others. Almost all of them are are awake now, either trying to walk or looking for Krista as if starving for a name. I want to know more than just my name, however. Peppering Krista with questions seems to be the only way to learn anything.

"Miss Krista," I call. "Where are we? Why are we in cages? What's going on? How come I just woke up here out of nowhere? Why aren't you in a cage?"

Krista

More and more of the dolls are beginning to stir all of them trying to free themselves of the straps holding them down and wanting to know their names.
I begin to walk down the isle of cages, undoing the straps of each doll and telling them their names.
“Your name is Jane.” I say to the next girl in the row, undoing the straps that hold her down.
She sits up almost immediately looking grateful and a lot less terrified then she did a day ago.
The next cage in a role holds a boy I can tell is trying really hard not to yell out and hurt himself by fighting against the straps holding him down.
He looks up at me as I walk near. “Hello? Can you tell me what’s going on? Can I have a name too?”
I undo the straps holding him down and smile.
“Of course, you all have names,” I tell him then add, “Yours is Peter.”
He looks really grateful as I walk onto the next cage.
“Your name is Zoe,” I say to the girl before she can ask and smile as I undo the straps feeling really happy that they all seem okay and unharmed.
“What’s your name?” the next girl in the line asks as I undo the straps binding her to the bench. “Me?” I ask, “I’m Krista.”
“And how about me?” she asks sitting up,” What’s my name?”
“Lilliana,” I tell her after deciding that I won’t tell them their nicknames as well, letting them decide on those themselves.
I hear her muttering her name over and over as I walk on.
The next doll looks nothing less of terrified as he eyes the situation he’s in.
"What about me?" He practically whispers as I walk in, undoing the straps, “What’s my name.”
“Your name is Maximillan, “I tell him deciding this once not to go by my ‘let them decide themselves rule’,” But you will probably go by Max- if you want to.”
The last doll in the row has barely woken up yet so I undo the straps before he has even noticed them.
This eyes flicker open.
“Your name’s Alex,” I say by way of explanation and walk to a bench at the centre of the room, pressing a button at the back.
All of the cage doors open and immediately every doll walk out, looking around.
I decide to give them a few moments to walk around and talk to each other.

Lilliana
When we all are out of our cages, we walk around the room, getting used to our wobbly legs.
"Hi, I'm Raven, what's your name again?" says a girl.
"I'm Lilliana.... Hmmm." I say. If Peter can have another name, why can't I?
"Lilliana--" she says.
"Uh, just call me Lily." I say. Lilly is a prettier name than Lilliana. All of us are in the middle of the room.
"Uh, what are we supposed to do?" I say, looking around.
"I was wondering the same thing." says Maximillian. Everyone agrees. Just then, Krista walks in.

Aster

Restraints--velcro, easily removed. I tugged upward with my wrists, freeing myself instantly. After pulling myself into a standing position, I paused, wondering what to do next. Some of the other dolls were walking around the room--perhaps I should, too.

Cage door--unlocked, swinging open at the lightest touch. I walked out of the cage, my steps wobbly at first, but soon, I was able to move with ease, making tiny adjustments mid-stride. I committed walking to memory, and set off in an arbitrary direction across the room, toward one of the other dolls.

"Hello," I said to her, copying Krista's words. "I am Aster. And you are Zoe, yes?"

Zoe
“Your name is Zoe,” she says to me while unstrapping the restraints that keep me pinned down.
I sit up on the bench, watching the world spin around me as I do so- waiting for it to focus properly before I move any further.
I turn my head to watch Krista walking through a column of cages, unstrapping each person as she goes and telling them their names.
I think back to my own.
Zoe… so simple… so short… but yet it seems to fit.
Krista finishes unstrapping everyone and then walks to something similar to a desk at the centre of the room, pressing something I can see.
The is a loud clang and then the door to my cage… and every other cage swings open.
People walk out and seeing how easy they make it look I decide to give walking a go as well.
Carefully I push my feet to the ground… almost there.
I manage to walk a few steps and then almost go tumbling over on the ground.
I practise it a bit more and within the minute I’m easily walking around the cage glad that I can finally walk.
Then I walk out my door and into the centre of the lab where the others are standing and talking.
Krista is nowhere in sight so instead of looking for her and asking her every question I can think of… like I want to, I stand there listening to what the others are saying and wondering about how… familiar that they seem.
Just then the boy who I first saw talking to Krista after waking up walks up to me.
"Hello," he says, seeming at ease with words already, "I am Aster. And you are Zoe, yes?"
I nod, knowing fully well, even though I only just learned my name a few minutes ago that that is true.
“Hi Aster,” I say and smile while giving the room a once over again- trying to figure out what’s going on, “Do you know why we are here?”

Aster

I thought for a moment. Given how little I knew about my surroundings, Zoe's question would take some time to answer.

"I'm not entirely sure," I replied. "This is a laboratory, and we were in cages...perhaps we were being studied." I thought some more. "That would not explain why we were released, though." Unless the scientists were finished studying us, they were violating the scientific method. Making us aware of our surroundings would create all sorts of new variables.

"It would not," Zoe agreed. She looked around at the lab. "The others," she observed. "They sound more like Krista than we do."

"That's true," I remarked. I was not experienced in linguistics, but Zoe and I did sound noticeably different from the others.

"Contractions!" I exclaimed. "They have been using contractions. We have not."

Peter


Krista doesn't answer my questions, but she does release us. I shoot out of my container, wanting to look at everything at once. The other cages; the other dolls, necks turning wildly as they try to take in the whole room at once; the table, sitting boredly in the corner; the carpet. I bend down and rub my fingers on it: It's a dull red and it bends at the touch.

Two others, Aster and Zoe, are talking. Eager to make more friends, I stride towards them.

"Hello," I say, imitating Lilliana's smile as I'm unsure to make one of my own. "I'm Pal. It's a lovely day isn't it?"

Aster looks me up and down like a horse he's considering purchasing.

"That does not make sense," he says. "how do you know the weather is nice if there are no windows? It is not possible."

I hop from foot-to-foot impatiently. "I mean, it's a lovely day, not lovely weather, silly."

They both just blink at me. No matter, because Krista suddenly returns to the room.

"Good news, everybody," she says, waving her hand through the air. "We're going to go to the garden. You can practice walking, running, and holding things out there. Follow me, please." As we line up behind her, I notice that there are a few dolls sitting or lying motionless. What's wrong with them? Aren't they coming with? I don't want to be left behind, so I put them out of my mind and let Krista lead us outside.

The garden is amazingly beautiful. Though it's surrounded by a tall wooden fence, it's large and spacious. There is a rolling green lawn stretched before us, and farther back a stone path winds through clusters of flowers. By the fence sits a line of tall oak trees. I take it all in, letting the sun bathe my upturned face. This is amazing.

I run forward, ignoring Krista's "Wait!". After a few steps I stumble and roll a few times. Even this is fun: the vibrant grass gets in my hair and stains my clothes. I tear up a handleful and let it go, watching it scatter in the breeze. Turning back to the others, I see that they are all cautiously inspecting the grass trying to stare at the sun. I watch Lilly, who is using her hand to shade her face as she attempts to stare into the sun.

"Come on, friend!" I run up to her and grab her hand, practically dragging her around to explore the garden. It's so nice to have a friend with me, I don't care that I need to slow down for her. We inspect the flowers - Chysanthemums, roses, petunias, tulips, lilies. Though I can automatically catalogue them in my head, they are beautiful and new to see. I pick off a flower petal and crush it between my fingers. Suddenly something weird on the stones catch my attention, causing me to abandon Lilly's hand and bend down. A slug! I poke it with my fingers, causing its eyes to disappear. Weird. Braver now, I pick it up and let it crawl up my arm. It leaves a shiny trail.

Smiling, I show it to Lilly. She draws back, looking like she doesn't want to see it. Well, fine. I gently put my new friend down under a chrysanthemum bush and we continue our expedition.

Zoe

Just then another boy strides up to us, smiling.
“Hello,” he says, “I’m Pal. It’s a lovely day isn’t it?”
Aster stares at him for a moment and I look around the room, searching for a window.
There has to be one doesn’t there?
After a while it processes on my brain that there are absolutely no windows in this room… just fluorescent lights.
Aster starts talking again, breaking me out of my thoughts, “That does not make sense,” he says, “how do you know the weather is nice if there are no windows? It’s not possible.”
I shake my head, wanting to go somewhere else… outside.
Pal grins, jumping around impatiently, “I mean, it’s a lovely day, not just lovely weather, silly.”
Aster stays silent this time and I figure that if he doesn’t know what to say then how can I?
At that moment Krista comes walking back through the doors to the lab.
"Good news, everybody," she says, making an odd gesture with her hand "We're going to go to the garden. You can practice walking, running, and holding things out there. Follow me, please."
Everyone awake forms a line behind her and follow Krista outside.
It’s perfect!
Light is shining everywhere and the temperature is warm.
We’re standing in a garden with a tall fence and a ton of perfectly green grass.
Pal starts running around, laughing and falling all over the perfect grass.
Grass and fallen leaves fall everywhere and the mood is happy.
Soon he jumps to his feet and motions for another girl to join him and soon they disappear around a bend in the garden.
I look around to the other dolls watching them stand, staring at the beautiful place around them before running off into the garden myself.
The grass is soft under my feet and everything is so bright- so unlike the lab.
The garden stretches out ahead of me as I run; enjoying the sensation as wind against my face and for a moment nothing else matters but this.

Krista

I walk back into the room a few minutes later, happy to see the dolls are all on their feet, socialising and walking around the lab.
"Good news, everybody," I call out, successfully getting their attention, “We’re going to go to the garden. You can practice walking, running, and holding things out there. Follow me, please."
I walk towards a door to the south of the lab, knowing that they’ll follow me and walk outside.

Dolls pile out after me, looking around in awe.
I’m about to say something, telling them about the dangers that they should probably stay away out here when one of the dolls starts running.
Peter… or Pal as I’ve heard him being called earlier.
“Wait!” I call after him but he doesn’t seem to hear me as he fall to the ground laughing.

Soon other dolls have ran off as well and I decide to stand back and watch them for a while saying something to them only if they are in danger.
I turn to the other dolls gesturing for them to go into the garden as well- wanting them to have fun before we have to go back into the lab and get on with the serious stuff.

The others rush off as well and I take a seat on a wooden bench nearby, enjoying the sunlight and watching them in case something goes wrong.

Jane

I walked outside into a garden after getting up again , I felt like i hadnt walked for years , It was so nice outside today , there were birds flying in , some were sitting on my arm and I was feeding them with bread that i stole from the table .